Abu Mazen's Proposed Cabinet

(April 13, 2003)

Following is the proposed composition of the new cabinet, according to three senior officials who said they saw a list put together by incoming Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). Yasser Arafat has objected to a number of the changes made to his cabinet and is seeking to obstruct the approval of Abu Mazen's choices.

Prime Minister - Abu Mazen
Interior Minister - Abu Mazen
State Minister of Interior Affairs - Mohammed Dahlan (former Gaza Strip security chief)
Deputy Prime Minister - Nasser Yousef (former security official)
Finance Minister - Salam Fayyad (outgoing finance minister)
External Affairs Minister - Nabil Sha'ath (outgoing planning minister)
Information Minister - Nabil Amr (Fatah legislator)
Culture Minister - Ziad Abu Amr (indepedent legislator)
Justice Minister - Abdel Karim Abu Salah (Fatah legislator)
Cabinet Secretary - Hakam Balawi (senior Fatah official, Abu Mazen confidant)
Tourism Minister - Ghassan Khatib (outgoing labor minister)
Planning Minister - Nabil Qassis (outgoing tourism minister)
Agriculture Minister - Hikmet Zeit (held the post in an earlier cabinet)
Labor Minister - Rafik Natche (held the post in an earlier cabinet)
Trade and Industry Minister - Azzam Shawa (businessman)
Local Government Minister - Saadi Krunz (industry minister in a previous cabinet)
Energy Minister - Maher al-Masri (outgoing trade and industry minister)
Health Minister - Kamal Shrafi (independent legislator)
Housing Minister - Hamdan Ashour (a senior Fatah official)
Ministers of State - Saeb Erekat (outgoing local affairs minister) and Yasser Abed Rabbo (outgoing information minister)